10. The Descendants
I think it’s great the way that director Alexander Payne’s films always seem to sneak up on us with an unexpected wealth of comedy, then drama, then pathos, and ultimately beauty. In his latest take on his favorite subject, the modern middle-aged male, Payne paints with ugly humanistic tendencies set against a lush Hawaiian backdrop. His leading man, the always delightful Mr. George Clooney, is a perfect guide as the conflicted heir to an untouched swath of land who is dealing with a dying wife and her infidelities.
9. Project Nim
You cannot deny this: films about Monkeys have consistently entertained audiences since the dawn of the 20th century. What you might want to deny, are the tears that you will shed by the end of this emotional roller coaster ride of a documentary by James Marsh (“Man on Wire”). A thorough examination of the life of Nim Chimpsky, a Chimpanzee with remarkable communicative abilities, Marsh pulls heart strings from the human stories of those he imprinted on, while stoking anger against opportunists and corrupt scientists. Thought provoking and memorable.
8. Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is my favorite hip-hop group of all time. Their best tunes are intense, funky and full of life. Thankfully director Michael Rapaport, best known for his work as a Hollywood actor, has made a film that is entirely reflective of ATCQ’s music. A colourful, smoothly edited, infectious documentary, Rapaport manages to wring raw feeling and a welcomed exhilaration out of the story of true musicians. They are creative, intelligent men once broken up by massive egos, but irrevocably united by the funkiness of their music.
7. 50/50
Sentimental without being sappy, Jonathan Levine’s follow up to the highly enjoyable “The Wackness” is a finely acted, funny and sincere piece of understated filmmaking. Starring the consistently wonderful Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a 28-year-old radio producer dealing with an extremely rare case of spinal cancer, “50/50” surprised everyone with its emotionally affecting approach to coming to terms with youthful mortality. Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick shine in supporting roles.
6. The Interrupters
Arguably the most “important” documentary of the year, director Steve James comes full circle with similar themes revolving around the black experience in America with his latest about a team of ex-gang members in Chicago; “violence interrupters” who specifically target at-risk youth, eliminating violent behavior at the street level. James, known for injecting his personal history and experience into his films, takes a step back here and lets his compelling subjects tell their stories. A scene involving an ex-thief confronting his victims months after a stick-up at a barber shop packs an emotional wallop because James, who filmed and directed, is unflinching in letting ugly, cathartic moments play out. Exceptional and raw documentary filmmaking.
5. Attack the Block
Joe Cornish’s first feature is a British Hoodlum-Action-Comedy-Horror film with a science fiction twist. And although on paper it seems like another overstuffed debut, it is impressive just how much of it works, with emotional power to spare. Following the tale of a gang of project-dwelling troublemakers as they inadvertently spark an interplanetary struggle against, in the memorable but perfect words of one character “gorilla-wolf looking motherf**ers”, Cornish executes one white-knuckled action sequence after another and finds time to flesh out his characters and the harsh socioeconomic realities that define them. Throw in some very memorable monster SFX and naturalistic performances by many first-time actors and you have one of the most surprisingly original films in recent memory.
4. Drive
A taut, intense and at times gorgeous piece of action-arthouse cinema, Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest isn’t merely a vehicle for Ryan Gosling’s simultaneously brooding and vulnerable lead character, but an exquisitely directed and realized meditation on identity and survival in a dog-eat-dog world. Meticulously photographed and edited, Drive is at times ultra-violent, hyper-stylized and thought-provoking. Gosling plays the “driver”, a mysterious, stoic figure with almost superhuman-like abilities behind the wheel of a car, mixed up in a violent mob-war involving an innocent mother played by an angelic Carey Mulligan, her son and (in an Oscar worthy role) Albert Brooks as a murderous kingpin. As with previous Refn outings, lots of blood is spilled and the atmospheric tension is amped up to 11, but what propels this film into the upper echelons of violent car-chase cinema, is its ability to thematically resonate while providing the requisite thrills. A film I was not able to shake from my conscience for a long time.
3. Beauty Day
A kitchen sink of a documentary, first-timer Jay Cheel’s “Beauty Day” is an uproarious, tender and poignant look at a dude who lives life to the limit. It is the story of the unbelievable life of St. Catherines, Ontario native Ralph Zavadil a.k.a Cap’n Video, whose popular cable access show in the early 90’s featured the Cap’n doing Jackass-like stunts ages before Jackass was even a nugget of an idea. What elevates Cheel’s film from what could have been a silly glorification of Zavadil’s admittedly hilariously dangerous television show is a willingness to get to the human core of the story; we see Zavadil literally break his neck trying to jump off a ladder propped up against a tree into his pool (an infamous stunt that landed him his 15 minutes of global notoriety) contrasted with harsh, emotionally sincere reactions from his mother and close friends. It’s also a beautifully shot and edited documentary with an evocative soundtrack and style to spare. This is the kind of seemingly effortless production that has made Canada one of the world leaders in energetic modern documentary filmmaking.
2. Cafe De Flore
The best Canadian film of the year, “Cafe De Flore”, Jean-Marc Vallee’s return back to his Quebecois roots after the big budget “The Young Victoria”, is a treat for the eyes, ears, mind and most importantly, the heart. A time-shifting, kinetic kaleidoscope of a film, “Cafe De Flore” asks more scathingly open questions about empathy, destiny and humanistic connection than any indie drama in recent memory. The film follows the parallel stories of Antoine (Kevin Parent), a DJ in modern day Montreal with a seemingly perfect life and a voluptuous new fiancee (Evelyne Brochu) experiencing a crisis of sudden guilt and remorse; and Jacqueline (the fantastic Vanessa Paradis) a single mother in 1960s Paris struggling for the love of her son, a child with Down syndrome, after a new girl enters his life. Vallee keeps both stories moving at a brisk pace, and like his previous Quebecois feature “C.R.A.Z.Y”, punctuates every scene with a heavy dose of Pink Floyd and other popular tunes from years past. But the use of music here is innovative in the way it questions the idea of the “shared experience” of a vinyl record: As the stories begin to interweave (revealing just how that happens would be a crime) and musical themes blend together, a philosophical magic trick is played on the audience, and if you’ve managed to fully engage with the story, what you’re left with is an extravagant, almost mystical realization about the timelessness of tragic romanticism and the power of love that binds us all. Yeah, it’s that deep.
1. The Tree of Life
“Feeling” and “emotion” are adjectives really thrown around a lot in the discussion and writing of film. The truth is that there is a dearth of films that really can be evocative enough to deserve such descriptors. Director Terrence Malick has spent his entire 40+ year career searching for these words and injecting them into every possible orifice of each of his five films. With “The Tree of LIfe”, he has achieved the fullest expression of his craft. Every single colour, expression and cut in this film pulses with a life and a fervor that is just so rare in modern filmmaking.
Keeping in form with most of Malick’s works, Tree of Life is an abstract poem, relying mostly on the lush power of his images in tandem with a delicate but grandiose soundtrack to tell his story, which centers on Jack (Sean Penn), an architect experiencing a melancholic relapse of the trauma brought on by the death of his younger brother in decades past. As Jack looks back in time to revisit his childhood, growing up in 60’s suburban Texas under the strict, demeaning rule of his father (Brad Pitt) and his delicate but idealistic mother (Jessica Chastain), Malick literally takes to the beginning of his world - the actual beginning of the world. What follows is a hypnotic and operatic “creation” sequence that transitions into the beautiful innocence of Jack's childhood, to the frustrating, dark revelations that accompany his adolescence, and eventually towards a sort of "afterlife" sequence.
It’s hard not to talk about Tree of Life without being unreasonably abstract and long-winded, but that’s because the film operates in the same way. For those that have completely connected with the film, they know that this is not a criticism. Malick paints his canvas with the precision of Monet and the wild volatility of Jackson Pollock, conveying both the messiness and confusion of human existence and the unifying, inspirational rhythms inherent in the universe. But that is life at its core though, isn’t it? A constant push and pull between the darkness of chaos and the affirmation of singularity. This is the kind of film is not afraid to leap with its eyes closed into the deepest, most human philosophical dillemas. For any serious movie fan, it’s worth taking the plunge.
